Iran still complying with nuclear deal: UN watchdog chief

An Iranian woman walks past a mural of the Iranian flag in the capital Tehran, on October 14, 2017. Iranians responded with anger and mockery on Saturday to the bellicose criticism of their government by US President Donald Trump who threatened to tear up the landmark nuclear deal. (STR / afp)

(AFP) - The UN's nuclear watchdog director Yukiya Amano Thursday reaffirmed Tehran is complying with the 2015 nuclear deal in a meeting with US ambassador to the UN Nikki Haley, the agency said.

It was the second meeting between Haley and the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) chief -- with the first taking place in August during Haley's visit to the agency's headquarters in Vienna, where she called for more controls on Iran.

Since that trip, President Trump in October de-certified the Iran deal, and warned Washington may yet walk away from "one of the worst" agreements in history, leaving its fate in the hands of Congress.

In exchange for controls to prevent Tehran from developing an atom bomb, the deal's signatories agreed to gradually lift sanctions.

In a statement, the IAEA said Haley and Amano "discussed the IAEA's verification and monitoring of Iran’s implementation of its nuclear-related commitments" under the agreement with six global powers -- the US, Russia, China, France, the UK and Germany.

Amano also repeated his assessment that the agreement "represents a significant gain for nuclear verification," and that Iran's nuclear-related commitments "are being implemented."

The IAEA chief assured Haley the agency has "so far had access to all the locations it needed to visit" Iran, and will continue to work "in an impartial and factual manner."

Meanwhile, the US mission to the UN expressed Haley's appreciation for the UN watchdog's "expertise and professionalism."

Haley vowed the US would support the IAEA "in carrying out robust verification of nuclear-related activities in Iran" -- also stressing the importance of "full and transparent access for the IAEA" in Iran.

Amano is currently visiting the US, where he has spoken with members of Congress and will deliver a speech to the UN General Assembly on Friday.